Solar-Bodied Cars

A German startup by the name of Sono is innovating a car in a way that we haven’t been hearing much about. While Elon Musk leads companies that focus on electric cars and solar panels, he has yet to combine the two into the aesthetic of the cars themselves. Sono has one upped him on this front with their new car named Sion.

If you think about it, having a solar panel car in the summer would mean that you’d never have to stop to charge it. For all of those Tesla-followers that obsess over mileage and range, this is a pretty innovative solution.

Germany will likely miss its target of putting 1 million electric cars on the road by 2020 but the government said in April it was ready to offer support to companies that make batteries for electric vehicles.

Sono Motors, which launched in 2016, has been focusing on the Sion since their founding. The Sion started out being merely a well-designed electric vehcile that could charge using conventional power outlets, but has since evolved into also containing solar panels. I guess we can thank the hot summers for convincing the engineers of the great idea.

The Sion will begin the manufacturing process in late 2019. The company already has more than 6,500 pre-orders to attend to.

In U.S. daollars, the Sion is priced at a modest $18,540. Compared to Tesla’s Model 3, that’s more than half.

Without the sun shining, the electric car can reach up to 155 miles before it needs to be plugged in again. That’s not quite Tesla-status on that front, but it seems like more than enough at the price point.

When asked to explain the interior of the Sion, Sono’s CEO responded with…

“We have a seat heater, there is air conditioning, there is a large infotainment system where I can also connect my phone interactively, which means I really have a full vehicle which is very simple, has no frills.”